Lunch with the Baileys

Today we got to grill out hamburgers with the Baileys, who are missionaries in Mwanza, Tanzania. We really enjoyed having them in our home, and talking with them about their successes as missionaries while they're here on furlough. They are a very humble, loving, God-fearing family.  We've known of them for a very long time since our church is their sponsor, but we've never been able to sit and talk with them. Their children were great! They were obsessed with acorns and squirrels and were just happy to play in the grass and collect different nuts. They were originally scheduled to go back to Tanzania this week but due to Marissa's father in TX being diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma they are going to TX for several months to spend with him and family. Please keep them in your prayers.

Blindfolded

This video isn't a new one by any means, but I know there are several people who would appreciate how wild our little girl is. I happened to throw something over her face one night when we were playing, and she took off, walking way faster than she normally would just going through the house. She started running into things and laughing. She was cracking us up. Anytime that we left a blanket or a jacket that she could get to, she would throw it over her face and go. We had to watch her closely for a while since she would do it randomly without us in the room. Thankfully, she's moved on from this. I thought for sure she would end up in stitches she would go so fast into something. Now, she really enjoys spinning in place or walking backwards. Which is equally as entertaining, but much safer for her. She is so much fun!

Chicks

We bought some chicks a few weeks ago and have been keeping them at a friend's place down the road since they have a warm place to keep them. Today, we took AnnElise over to see them. They have grown a lot and fast. Before long, our rooster won't be lonely and AnnElise will have more chickens to chase around and feathers to pull. Before going over there, AnnElise got our roosters feathers so well that when it ran from her, she fell from holding on so tight. Our friends that are raising our chicks, have two kids. They've had to rescue them several times. The youngest, Wyatt, likes to take them and fly them around like a bird, and the older one, Faith, enjoys putting them in the swing with her. Their kids really enjoy playing with them.
AnnElise kept grabbing it by the neck. We're working on being gentle.

The big ugly yellow one that looks super awkward is the dinner one. He's bred to grow much faster than the rest. I think I'll feel bad eating it, but at least he's ugly and not very friendly. It makes it easier to eat it.

Here's a picture of Wyatt while he's flying it around like superman. When he was done, the poor little chick didn't move for a few minutes. It looked traumatized.

Big Bows on Little Girls

Yesterday AnnElise decided that she liked having head bands on. If she ever wears one, its only a matter of minutes before she takes it off. When I put it on her, I thought about how long it would actually stay on, and immediately she began reaching to pulling it off. So, I took her to the bathroom mirror to see it and she LOVED it. It was big, and bright pink but not as big as the other little girls have on at church. Most of her headbands are really small. I hesitantly put it on her thinking it was too much, but she really liked it. We made our way to church and was in doubt about it the whole time. As soon as we walked through those doors, everyone was chattering about how cute she was. SHOCKED! She got compliments the whole time. I thought it was weird, but I guess I underestimated the HUGE, bright statement headbands. She wore it proudly and only once took it off, looked at it, then decided she wanted it back on. Maybe I should make some bigger, brighter headbands for her. I wish I had a picture of it, but I didn't think about it in time. Needless to say, she wore it until her bath last night. Even after nap, she saw it laying on her changing table, and put it back on. I guess all little girls need big bows/headbands. I better get to work on making some more. Sad that I'm just now finding out that she's been wearing them too small this whole time.

Head and Backaches

I think I'm 15 weeks now. I haven't kept up with it like I did with AnnElise. This pregnancy is so much the same, but also so different than with AnnElise. I keep getting random headaches and my back has hurt almost constantly. My back may be due to being pregnant and picking up a 23 lb toddler all of the time. With AnnElise, I had absolutely no nausea, no backache, no headaches, and didn't feel pregnant at all. I don't really feel pregnant now. I'm kinda used to having headaches and backaches on a regular basis, but now I'm very limited in what I can take for relief. Its frustrating. I am getting my energy back which is really good. It was hard taking care of AE by myself with no energy. Today, I'm very thankful that I have my energy back. AnnElise has been into everything and making a huge mess. Just today and all before her first nap, she had put her shoe in the toilet, thrown away her sippy cup, found a cup on my night stand full of water and spilt every drop of it on our kitchen floor ( she managed to carry it all of the way up the steps without spilling a drop of it), threw a bowl of veggies on the floor, stood up on top of her musical table then hit her head pretty hard when she fell, took mounds of dirt from a potted plant to decorate the couch with, took off a dirty diaper and sat her nasty butt down on the steps (this was a first), and then finally slept for about 3-4 hours. She also learned to walk backwards and was pretty proud of herself. During every incident, she never threw a fit, just wanted to make a mess of everything. She did it with a smile on her face the whole time until she got popped for throwing dirt on the couch. I did put her to bed an hour earlier since she took a long morning nap and missed the afternoon one. I love my little girl so much. She is very easily entertained. Today was extremely out of the ordinary, and hopefully not to be duplicated ever again. Its hard to be mad at her when she just laughs at everything. So now my migraine is making me nauseous (its making me gag) but pregnancy is making me hungry.

Earth Worm Harvest

So today was a beautiful day, especially for the beginning of March. I'm loving this weather, and so is AnnElise. Today between naps, she's been playing outside and chasing around the rooster. They are good friends now as long as she's not pulling its feathers. The rooster is lonely without hens, and AnnElise is a little lonely without a sibling, so its the perfect friendship for now. AnnElise can speak "rooster" too. Our mornings start with hearing a loud, crowing, beautiful, Rhode Island Red Rooster, followed shortly by AnnElise doing her best imitation of that crow. We go outside as much as possible so she can run around, play in dirt, throw rocks, chase the rooster, and kick the soccer ball. I know we're raising a girl, but we're on a small farm so what else is there to do? Here's a pic of her from the other day playing with "Bubba."

This summer we hope to have a nice size vegetable garden, actually two of them. We've been collecting compost for it all winter long. Daniel went to a two week training on sustainable agriculture in Searcy, AR a couple of years ago in hopes of becoming missionaries in Africa. He learned a few things there that we'll try, but he also majored in plant and soil science, so I expect an awesome garden this year. While Daniel was working on our landcaping today and digging up plots for shrubs, I took one for the team to harvest some earthworms for our garden. AnnElise even tried to help some, but I was reluctant b/c I didn't want her to try to eat them.

Split Ends

Being a stay at home mom, I thought that I would actually have more time to spend on myself and be able to work out, and do some shopping, but I'm realizing its just a dream. For the first time in over 1.5 years I got my hair cut. My stylist had to cut off 2 inches just to get all of the split ends. Of, course, I made sure that it was still long enough for a ponytail!
I wasn't the only one who got a hair cut this week! I cut off all of AnnElise's hair too. I know what you're thinking, she's a girl. AnnElise had been rocking a skullet almost since birth. I'd been waiting for her hair to start growing on the top of her head, but it was still just a bit of fuzz, while the back was growing long and thick. She was born with a lot more hair, but only the top fell out. She is still confused as a boy a lot, even when wearing all pink. Her hair almost looked like a little rat tail in the back. I don't have any pics of her new do, so I'll have to take one and post later. She's bound to have a thick head of hair like her dad and me, its just a matter of time.
Also, today I got to hear our next little monkey's heartbeat. It was strong and steady. The doc couldn't hear it for very long she said it was moving around too much. Everything is on track and looking good so far. I still don't feel pregnant. I am just now 14 weeks now and still 10 lbs lighter than I was with AE, so I am feeling great. I predict it will be another 1.5 years before I get another hair cut, maybe longer since I'll have two little kids to work around.

New Blog

I wanted to start a new blog, mostly about being a stay-at-home, challenges in being a mother, and other ramblings. I figure I can't run out of things to say about AnnElise's sweet, free spirit and the new things she is getting into and learning. We'll see how long I can keep up this blog especially since we'll have #2, in less than 6 months now. That will make 2 children under the age of 2. Even though this was another surprise to us, we're really excited about this blessing. I hope you follow along on our adventures of raising a family in rural Tennessee.